page_title: La Brayelle Airfield
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: La Brayelle Airfield / Early years
caption_attribution_description: English: Louis Breguet during La Brayelle near Douai, June, 1909
context_page_description: La Brayelle Airfield was one of the first airfields in France. It was situated 3 kilometres west of Douai, in the Nord département in northern France. It was host to the world’s first aviation meeting, home to Bréguet Aviation, and an important airfield in the First World War. It is occasionally referred to as Douai-Brayelles airfield. There were several other airfields in the area of Douai, especially during WW1, so the term 'Douai Airfield' may or may not refer to La Brayelle.
context_section_description: In 1900 brothers Jacques and Louis Breguet were running a factory producing electric motors and dynamos at La Brayelle. A friend, psychologist Professor Charles Richet, persuaded them to look into the then novel aviation industry. In 1902 Louis built a wind tunnel in the factory and his research started.
  The first product was the Bréguet-Richet Gyroplane No.1, a machine with four sets of four biplane rotors driven by a 50 horsepower (37 kW) engine. On 29 September 1907 it rose vertically to a height of two feet (0.6m), steadied by four assistants – the first ever manned helicopter flight, but it was completely uncontrollable. In 1908 the Bréguet-Richet Aircraft Manufacturing Company was formed, continuing development of the Gyroplane with a second more successful model. This was badly damaged in a hard landing, and was used as the basis for the model 2bis, which was nearly ready for flight when it was destroyed in its hangar by a severe storm in early 1909.
  On 17 December 1907, local businessman Pierre Arbel, director of the Forges de Douai, donated land as France’s first airfield, and created a 72 hectares (180 acres) field and a fenced area for the hangars and workshops.
  Breguet’s first fixed-wing aircraft, the Type 1, had its first flight at the airfield on 28 June 1909.
caption: Louis Breguet in June 1909
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